Rachel Devitt

The other day I happened, to my great surprise, to walk by a cheerleading camp, a small army of kids with words like "TIGERS" emblazoned across their trim, peppy asses. Sometimes I forget that real, nonironic cheerleaders, who are very serious about what they do, exist -- and not just...

The whole girl-with-a-guitar genre is like your first "A Woman Needs a Man Like a Fish Needs a Bicycle" bumper sticker: Its overt earnestness is initially very empowering and, subsequently, extremely embarrassing once you've moved out of the dorm and into the messy, "post-feminist" world full of things like strap-ons...

Of all the "The" bands swearing devotion to the Sonics/Stones/Stooges holy trinity of garage rock, the Hives have always seemed to have the most fun. Unhindered by the Strokes' penchant for rock star clich or the White Stripes' Machiavellian creepiness, the Hives reveled in the simple pleasures of three chords,...